Post by Emmanuel Jesuyon Dansu (@ejdansu)

Inspiring Mathematicians 87: J. Ernest Wilkins Jr.

J. Ernest Wilkins Jr. (1923–2011) was an extraordinary African-American mathematician, physicist, and engineer whose career spanned pure and applied mathematics, nuclear science, engineering, and optics.

Born in Chicago, he entered the University of Chicago at just 13, earned his bachelor’s degree in mathematics at 17, master’s degree at 18, and Ph.D. in mathematics at 19, becoming one of the earliest African Americans to earn a mathematics doctorate.

He later taught at Tuskegee Institute and Howard University and worked at the University of Chicago’s Metallurgical Laboratory during the Manhattan Project, where his research with Eugene Wigner on neutron behavior contributed to the mathematical foundations of nuclear-reactor design.

Wilkins also made important contributions to radiation shielding, mathematical physics, optics, and the study of random polynomials, while mentoring generations of scientists and mathematicians; he served as president of the American Nuclear Society from 1974 to 1975 and was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1976.

#ejdansu #inspiringmathematicians #J.ErnestWilkinsJr.

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